Look Up Perth

Don’t let anyone tell you that the Perth has no heritage buildings left. It’s simply not true! There are still amazing places left in Perth, all adding to the city’s unique character.

Over the years, shop fronts have been redesigned making Perth look like most other city centres around the world. Look above these twentieth century additions and you’ll find a very different story. This is where our heritage is on show!

Look up at the McNess Royal Arcade on the corner of Hay and Barrack Streets. It was built in 1897 during the gold boom for scrap metal dealer, Charles McNess, and designed by William Wolf, who later went on to design His Majesty’s Theatre. Perth has many buildings like this that tell stories of important times in the life of the city.

To encourage people to discover the fantastic treasury of heritage buildings in central Perth, Heritage Perth runs a very popular Look Up Perth campaign.

We invite you to visit the city centre, tilt your head upwards a few degrees and see what’s above the shop fronts. Explore the city with new eyes… eyes that are gazing above street level. You’ll be amazed by what you see!

From time to time, experienced guides conduct Look Up Perth walks around the city centre giving a short talk on selected buildings and the people who were responsible for them.

The Look Up Perth campaign was launched, carnival style, by the Lord Mayor of Perth, Dr Peter Natrass, on 27th July, 2007.